Chapter III 



FOLIAGE PLANTS FOR HOUSE 

 DECORATION 



The Best Kinds for House Culture 



IT must be a source of pleasure to those who have 

 •*■ been enjoying the beauties of out-of-doors Nature 

 all Summer to know that it is possible to bring into 

 the house, plants of beautiful flower or foliage. Not 

 many of these, however, that one sees in the Summer 

 garden will submit to the confinement of the house 

 in the Winter. This is particularly true of our hardy, 

 native trees and shrubs which lose their leaves in the 

 Winter, or if evergreen, require a long cold period of 

 rest just the same. So that it is a waste of time to dig 

 up the pretty little specimens of Pines, Junipers and 

 Spruces or the Mountain Laurels, Rhododendrons 

 and ferns that one longs so much to take home as a 

 memento of the pleasant vacation time. Fortu- 

 nately, we have the warmer states and countries of the 

 South from which to draw and they have furnished 

 us with a wealth of beautiful fohage plants that 

 thrive well in captivity. It is interesting to realize 

 that most of our familiar house plants belong to 

 tropical climes where they are in active growth 

 nearly all the time, never being denuded of foliage as 

 are our Maples and Oaks and often attaining the size 

 and character of forest trees. Take the popular small 

 Araucaria excelsa, for instance, which we know as a 



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